For some of you your 1 year subscription has run out. Please check the subscribers list to see where you stand. I hope to hear from you soon! Thanks to all for making this so much easier!
The subscription system of $10 per year has been a great idea and has helped quite a bit as I have been able to obtain a lot of new books and reference materiasl. New references though, are now becoming available and I need to have more funds to purchase them. I only use any income from this site to purchase books or pay internet costs. Not a penny goes into my pocket. If you want to keep this site with the most up to date references then please send in your subscription!!! Today is the day! We need your help! All you in other countries than the US please help as well. You are about two-thirds of the users but send in only 5% of the total subscriptions. Please send a check or international money order to

If you want to become a subscriber to IOSPE please send to Paypal c/o jfal@sprynet.com

It has come to my attention that some of you have been using photos or descriptions lifted from this site to aid in selling plants. Please be advised that we do not allow this and will prosecute offenders. Any reuse of these photos for commercial gain is patently illegal. All the photos of mine and my contributors are copyrighted and we will pursue offenders vigorously!

Commercial use is the fastest way for this page and international effort to unravel. Please be thoughtful and do not copy!!!!!!!!

This site is compiled from photos collected from growers or photo collectors around the world and I rely on them to try to be sure of their identification. As we all know, however, many plants are mislabeled and growers and collectors can't know all species in every genera, so please be advised that to the best of our knowledge the following ID's are correct. I have hundreds of references, thanks to you all, but often many species are not well represented. I try to the best of my capabilities to be correct but as the adage goes, "To err is human". Many species herewith have been scrutinized by taxonomic experts and will be correct, but this may not be true of all the species described. If you have any questions as to the veracity of any species described in this encyclopedia please e-mail me, Jay Pfahl, at jfal@sprynet.com and we will work at correcting the mistake. As to the text it is compiled by culling notes from hundreds of books and publications [See Bibliography and source books] but it too can be wrong in part due to my mistake or in the often conflicting reports on various orchids.

If you have been holding out on sending your orchid species photos now is the time to act. The new goal is 25000 ... I topped 7000 on July 25 2007, 8000 passed on 4/1/08, 17,000 in January 2014, and 20,000 species was attained on May/4 2016

Taxonomic Organization of Species, varieties and formas All varieties, formas, subspecies and the like are listed under the parent species, ie. all information and photos for Stanhopea eburnea var. grandiflora (Lindley) Regel 1856 will be found under the link for Stanhopea grandiflora [Lodd] Lindley

IF you do not find a species listed here that you know is a species, most likely I do not have a photo or drawing of it and therefore it is not included in this list. This is a photo encyclopedia not an orchid list of all plant names, although I am trying very hard to get there.

Below are orchid species listed alphabetically, you can go from species to species by scrolling to the top or bottom of any page to find another alphabet bar such as this one below. All names are listed alphabetically including synonyms, so if you see your plant name without a link, there will be a reference there to procede to the name that is on this list with a link to the picture as well as cultural information for your species.

It has come to my attention that some of you have been using photos from this site to aid in selling plants. Please be advised that we do not allow this and will prosecute offenders. Any reuse of these photos for commercial gain is patently illegal. All the photos of mine and my contributors are copyrighted and we will pursue offenders vigorously!

Alphabetical Species Search!

This search will take you to the head of each alphabetical listing chosen.

There are lots of orchid photos. I spent 16 days in country and managed to visit Sao Paulo state beaches, littoral plain and littoral mountains as well as the Mantiquera Mountains and up to Diamantina in northern Minas Gerais all by car with the well known Brazilian orchid expert, Marcos Campacci. The name may ring a bell as he is the describer of many new Brazilian orchid species such as Cattleya tenuis. He is also the editor of Boletim CAOB and Brasil Orqueideas, 2 major orchid publications in Brazil.

Kenya

I have finally found the time to assemble the Kenya page. A great vacation. Jambo!!!Come along on a SAFARI with me!!!

There are lots of animal, bird and orchid photos. We spent 16 days in country and managed to visit 5 National Parks, Samburu [Mid north], Lake Nakuru [Central], Lake Naivasha [Central], Masa Mara [southwest] and East Tsavo [southeast}. There is a hot air Balloon ride, 10 days of animal safari and 2 days of tribal visits, one, the Samburu to the north west and, two, the Masai to the southwest. A once in a lifetime experience for myself and my family. Please write and give me your comments!

Happy Anniversary!!!!! This page is now 13 years old and 100's of times bigger than when it started, thanks to all for their help. We have been visited by people from more than 205 countries, so this is truely an international site. I was surprised to see someone from The Occupied Palestinian territories come up as a visitor this month.

Congratulations!!!!!You are one of more than 1,386,000 visitors, 175,002 of them unique users, this page has seen. Come back often and happy growing!!!!!!

Almost all of the preceding orchids were found near these two landscape shots, # 1 shows the cleared forests which has grown back with pine in the background and the original scrub forest with rock outcroppings in the foreground. The orchid not blooming is a Masdevallia, the bloom spike I do not think is from an orchid. Anyone? #2 Shows the stunted bushes that grow amid rock outcroppings on a hill on the sides of the savannah of Bogata'.

If anyone has any idea as to the identity of any of the previous orchids please e-mail me at:Jay Pfahl

Just Click on the Subject Below and the Section of the page will appear.

W3 Tropicos Everwonder where I got all the taxonomic info for these pages, this is it, run by the Missouri Botanical garden this not only list almost all orchid names it also has almost every name for all plants. Lots of text info, very few pictures

Just Click on the Subject Below and the Section of the page will appear.

Please give us your comments as to the workings of this home page, we have hopes of creating a site that will have photos of every genus and possibly cultural tips as well.
E-Mail: Jay Pfahl c/o Neptune Designs.